“Malty and fairly sweet as well as slightly toasted at the beginning of the sip then the slightly toasted hint seems to fade away. This is bolder than I thought it would be.
It has a...”
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“I drink Golden Assam with breakfast, usually eggs. It gives me a little pick me up and it tastes delicious. It’s one of my go to teas great all the time. It gets pretty dark like light...”
Read full tasting note

From Rishi Tea

The Assam region of Northeast India is famous for its black tea production. The sub-tropical valleys of Assam in which tea is cultivated yield gutsy, bold infusions with full body and flavor. Our single estate Golden Assam is from orthodox manufacture and has an abundance of even grade leaves and golden buds.

Tasting Notes: Robust and bright with hints of sweet raisin and an assertive malty finish

Ingredients: Organic and Fair Trade Certified™ black tea.

Additional Info: Classic black teas offer a timeless taste of tea’s rich history and express a distinct sense of place, determined not only by geography and climate, but also by culture and tradition.

The majority of our teas are organic and Fair Trade Certified. In 2009, we won 11 First Place Awards for Best Tea, almost double that of any competitor. Tea is our passion, it’s what we do best. We’re honored to share some of our favorite teas with you.

I drink Golden Assam with breakfast, usually eggs. It gives me a little pick me up and it tastes delicious. It’s one of my go to teas great all the time. It gets pretty dark like light coffee but isn’t as pungent, if thats the right word, as Darjeeling.

My room mate likes it as well. He has this idea that it tastes creamy, but I think he is delusional some times. He has a habit of lying about things that don’t really matter. I don’t think he’s lying when he says he likes the tea though.

Preparation

I originally tried brewing this tea just under five minutes (following Rishi’s suggestions), but it was too astringent and a bit bitter. After reading some about assam teas, I now steep it just under 3 minutes, and it brews strong, has a sweetness to it (raisin/date), and an acceptable amount of astringency. I enjoy this tea a great deal.

Preparation

Rishi is one of the selected loose leaf companies my local grocery store carries, so every once in a while I’ll wander from the bulk tea section and check out if they have anything interesting to offer. Last week I stumbled upon this one which I probably wouldn’t have picked up otherwise, but it was on sale (I’m such a sucker) so of course I took it home with me. I got around to trying it a day so later and immediately went back and picked up two more boxes while it was still on sale (again, what a sucker).

This is the type of Assam I really adore. Malty and sweet, but not so sweet that it seems more like a Yunnan. Just enough to counter the touch of astringency . There’s not all that much to say about it. It’s just a really nice hearty classic Assam. Even with ever-changing preferences, I don’t think I’ll ever tire of theses types of teas.

I should note that I think this is the tea I got. My boxes only say Assam rather than Golden Assam. However the golden tips are plentiful and there is no plain Assam listed here or on Rishi’s website. So I think I’m putting this in the correct spot.